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SweatFree Communities

SweatFree Communities aims to support sweatshop workers globally in their struggles to improve working conditions and achieve respect at work.

This campaign does this by encouraging U.S. cities, states and school districts to adopt policies to purchase goods made in humane conditions by workers who are paid decent wages. By adopting a sweatfree policy, an institution makes a commitment to use its leverage to help improve conditions for sweatshop workers. Sweatfree procurement laws send the message of "not with their sweat, not with our dollars!"

Localities can take several key steps toward becoming sweatfree. Adopting a sweatfree procurement policy puts in place requirements for transparency and decent working conditions in government supply chains. As part of the policy, governments should join the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium in order to have a bigger impact in their supply chains by pooling resources for policy implementation. In consultation with the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium, the City of Madison, Wisconsin, has developed a cooperative "piggyback" contract with a vendor that has agreed to transparency and anti-sweatshop measures, and supplies a variety of uniforms and other apparel typically purchased with our tax dollars. The contract, which was bid competitively in a request-for-proposals (RFP) process, is available for use by public agencies across the United States.

Sweatfree campaigns can foster sustained local activism and strong coalitions of labor, student, and faith-based groups. Using institutional purchasing as a lever for worker justice, the sweatfree movement empowers people to advance fairness in the global economy through local action.

Where Can You Start?

First, if you are considering bringing this campaign to your community, please contact us so that we can be aware of your efforts and coordinate together.

If your city, county, or state is listed under the "Policies" tab, that means they already have a sweatfree policy in place. Many of these policies need strengthening in order to achieve their full potential, particularly if the community has not yet joined the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium. (Check the member list, here.) In addition, we encourage public entities to use the sweatfree cooperative contract pioneered by Madison, Wisconsin. Check out our organizing toolkit to get started.

Take Action: Making Your Community SweatFree

The first step is to identify your campaign goal.

Encourage your city to join the cooperative sweatfree procurement contract hosted by the city of Madison, Wisconsin. This "piggy-back" contract is with a vendor that has agreed to key measures for transparency and decent working conditions, including publicly disclosing supplier factories and allowing independent monitors to perform inspections.

It may not be necessary for your city to first adopt a sweatfree policy in order to join the cooperative contract; however, it will likely help with the political will to achieve their participation in the contract.

Once you know where you're headed, use these resources to get started:

If you're starting a new sweatfree campaign, please let us know so that we can be in touch and coordinate together!

Procurement in the United States accounts for 20% of GDP, two-thirds of which is state and local purchasing (13% of GDP), and one-third of which is federal (7% of GDP). The federal government spends over $500 billion on goods and services annually, which is more than the GDP of all but 16 countries. Combined, U.S. federal, state, and local government apparel procurement constitutes approximately $10 billion a year. Any way you look at it, government procurement is a force, one that governments can use responsibly to create good jobs and promote fairness in the global economy.

In 2003, grassroots organizations in Maine, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin formed the national network SweatFree Communities (SFC). Each group had been successful—through mostly volunteer efforts—in achieving groundbreaking new procurement policies with the goal of ensuring that our state and local governments, using our tax dollars, would not buy uniforms and other clothing made in sweatshops. To date, seven states, 45 cities, 16 counties, 118 school districts, and one nationwide religious denomination have adopted such “sweatfree” policies. SFC supports these local campaigns, develops educational and policy resources, and researches working conditions in supply chains.

At the same time, SFC has worked with leading government agencies to form the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium (est. May 2010), a membership organization for governments to help them act with combined strength and transparency in meeting their goals for sweatshop-free purchasing. The Consortium provides expertise and pools resources to monitor working conditions and enforce “sweatfree” standards. The Consortium’s goal is to change the rules of competition to favor not businesses that produce the cheapest possible goods at the expense of workers, but those that offer good value while operating transparently, providing humane working conditions, and valuing workers' human and labor rights.

In 2010, SweatFree Communities joined forces with the International Labor Rights Forum, becoming an ILRF program and beginning a new collaboration to strengthen our advocacy efforts to create a sweatfree world.

NEW JERSEY*State of New JerseyArchdiocese of Newark City of Camden *City of Clifton City of Deptford *Township of East Brunswick City of Neptune *City of Newark City of Redbank Bergen County *Cumberland County Essex County *Gloucester County Hudson CountyMercer County Middlesex County *Passaic County

NEW MEXICOCity of Albuquerque*City of Santa Fe

NEW YORKState of New York - Labor Law 213-AAlbany DioceseBuffalo Diocese Rockville (Long Island) Diocese*City of Albany*City of Ithaca*Village of New PaltzCounty of AlbanySuffolk CountyAddison School DistrictAlbany City School DistrictAlfred-Almond School DistrictAkron School DistrictAmherst School DistrictAndover School DistrictAverill Park Central School DistrictBelfast School DistrictBerne-Knox-Westerlo Central School DistrictBethlehem School DistrictBlind Brook-Rye School DistrictBradford School DistrictBrasher Falls School DistrictBrentwood School DistrictBrushton-Moira School DistrictBurnt Hills-Ballston Lake School DistrictCamden School DistrictCarthage School DistrictCentral Islip United Free School DistrictChurchville-Chili School DistrictClarence School DistrictColton-Pierrepoint School DistrictCooperstown School DistrictDuanesburg School DistrictEast Greenbush School DistrictEast Islip School DistrictEast Moriches School DistrictEast Rochester School DistrictEdinburg Common School DistrictEldred School DistrictEllenville School DistrictEllicottville School DistrictElmira Heights School DistrictFabius-Pompey School DistrictFayetteville-Manlius School DistrictFonda-Fultonville School DistrictFort Plain School DistrictFrontier School DistrictGlens Falls Common School DistrictGloversville School DistrictGouverneur School DistrictGreater Amsterdam School DistrictGuilderland Central School DistrictHammondsport School DistrictHarrisville School DistrictHerkimer School DistrictHeuvelton School DistrictHoosick Falls School DistrictJamesville-Dewitt School DistrictJordan Elbridge Central School DistrictLancaster School DistrictLansingburgh Central School DistrictLawrence School DistrictLeRoy School DistrictLivonia School DistrictLittle Flower School DistrictLong Beach City School DistrictLongwood School DistrictMoravia School DistrictNew Lebanon School DistrictNew Paltz School DistrictNewburgh City School DistrictNorth Colonie Central School DistrictNorth Rose-Wolcott School DistrictNorthport United Free School DistrictNorthport-East School DistrictNorwich School DistrictOdessa-Montour School DistrictOneonta City School DistrictOnondaga School DistrictOnteora School DistrictPatchogue-Medford United Free School DistrictPembroke School DistrictPenn-Yan School DistrictPhelps-Clifton Springs School DistrictPine Plains School DistrictPlattsburgh School DistrictRandolph School DistrictRavena-Coeymans-Selkirk School DistrictRed Creek School DistrictRiverhead School DistrictRondout Valley Central School DistrictRotterdam-Mohonasen School DistrictRoxbury School DistrictScio School DistrictSharon Springs School DistrictSodus School DistrictSouth Colonie Central School DistrictSouth Glens Falls Central School DistrictSouthern Cayuga School DistrictSouth Country School DistrictSt. Johnsville Central School DistrictTaconic Hills School DistrictThree Villages Central School DistrictTroy City School DistrictValley Stream 13 School DistrictValley Stream 30 School DistrictVoorheesville Central School DistrictWalkill School DistrictWaterloo School DistrictWatervliet School DistrictWayne School DistrictWeedsport School DistrictWellsville School DistrictWest Seneca School DistrictWheatland-Chili School DistrictWheelerville School District